Viscosity

Viscosity is an internal property of a fluid that offers resistance to flow. For example, pushing a
spoon with a small force moves it easily through a bowl of water, but the same force moves
mashed potatoes very slowly.

The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to gradual deformation by shear stress or
tensile stress. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness". For example,
honey has a much higher viscosity than water.

Viscosity is a property arising from collisions between neighboring particles in a fluid that are
moving at different velocities. When the fluid is forced through a tube, the particles which
comprise the fluid generally move more quickly near the tube's axis and more slowly near its
walls: therefore some stress, (such as a pressure difference between the two ends of the tube), is
needed to overcome the friction between particle layers and keep the fluid moving. For the same
velocity pattern, the stress required is proportional to the fluid's viscosity.

That is, unlike solid which moves all in one piece, different layers of the fluid move with
different velocities. Consider a laminar flow of a fluid over a flat plate as shown below.
Streamlines
Vmax

y
V=0

Flat plate
On the surface of the plate velocity V = 0.

At the topmost layer, the fluid has maximum velocity (V max).

Since the fluid layers are moving with different velocities, then friction is set up.

This friction in fluid is termed viscosity.

Fluid friction is due to the attractive intermolecular forces between the fluid particles in one layer
and those in the adjacent layer. As shown in the figure above velocity increases gradually in y
direction (i.e. perpendicular to the surface of the plate).

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The frictional force (viscous force) F between two adjacent fluid layers is directly proportional to
the velocity gradient( ) and the area of contact between the two layers.

The proportionality factor µ in this formula is the viscosity (specifically, the dynamic viscosity)
of the fluid.
The ratio is called the rate of shear deformation or shear velocity, and is the derivative of the
fluid speed in the direction perpendicular to the plates. Isaac Newton expressed the viscous
forces by the differential equation

where and is the local shear velocity. This formula assumes that the flow is moving
along parallel lines and the y axis, perpendicular to the flow, points in the direction of maximum
shear velocity. This equation can be used where the velocity does not vary linearly with y, such
as in fluid flowing through a pipe.

has the unit N.s/m2 or kg/ms.

Other unit is poise. 1 poise = 0.1 N.s/m2.

 Viscosity is independent of pressure (except at very high pressure); and

 Viscosity tends to fall as temperature increases

Consider a fluid flowing through a pipe as shown below. The fluid payer next to the wall of the
pipe is at rest (i.e. v =0), and the fluid velocity increases towards the centre of the pipe.

i.e. velocity at centre is maximum. y

R
Vm 0 x
V=0
Velocity profile

Relationship between the velocity (v) and the distance (y) from the centre of the pipe is parabolic
given as

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Where R = radius of the pipe and is the pressure gradient along the pipe.

The rate of heat flow Q is related to the pressure gradient and viscosity according to the equation

(Poiseuille’s Law).

Stoke’s Law and Terminal Velocity

When any object rises or falls through a fluid it will experience a viscous drag, whether it is a
parachutist or spacecraft falling through air, a stone falling through water or a bubble rising
through fizzy lemonade. The mathematics of the viscous drag on irregular shapes is difficult; we
will consider here only the case of a falling sphere. The formula was first suggested by Stokes
and is therefore known as Stokes' law.

Consider a sphere falling through a viscous fluid. As the sphere falls so its velocity increases
until it reaches a velocity known as the terminal velocity. At this velocity the frictional drag due
to viscous forces is just balanced by the gravitational force and the velocity is constant (shown
by Figure 2).

Let r = radius of the sphere

η = fluid viscosity
v = terminal velocity

The viscous drag on the sphere is given as

Using dimensional analysis

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From this

The constant k is known to be 6

Therefore the viscous drag (Frictional force) F = 6πηrv (Stokes' law)

If the density of the material of the sphere is ρ and that of the liquid σ, then
Effective gravitational force = weight - upthrust =m1g – m2g

Where m1 (mass of the sphere) = density x volume = ρV

M2 (mass of fluid displaced) = density x volume = σ V

Effective gravitational force = ρVg - σVg = Vg(ρ – σ)

At the terminal speed:

And

And viscosity

One can conclude that

1. the frictional drag is smaller for large spheres than for small ones
2. theterminal velocity of a large sphere is greater than that for a small sphere of the same
material.

Figure 3 shows how the velocity of an object will increase with time as it falls through a viscous fluid.

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Surface tension
Property of a liquid surface that causes it to act like a stretched elastic membrane. Its strength
depends on the forces of attraction among the particles of the liquid itself and with the particles
of the gas, solid, or liquid with which it comes in contact. Surface tension allows certain insects
to stand on the surface of water and can support a razor blade placed horizontally on the liquid's
surface, even though the blade may be denser than the liquid and unable to float. Surface tension
results in spherical drops of liquid, as the liquid tends to minimize its surface area.
At liquid-air interfaces, surface tension results from the greater attraction of water molecules to
each other (due to cohesion) than to the molecules in the air (due to adhesion). The net effect is
an inward force at its surface that causes water to behave as if its surface were covered with a
stretched elastic membrane. Because of the relatively high attraction of water molecules for each
other, water has a high surface tension (72.8 millinewtons per meter at 20°C) compared to that of
most other liquids. Surface tension is an important factor in the phenomenon of capillarity.

Surface tension preventing a paper clip from submerging.

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 Diagram of the forces on molecules of a liquid

Surface tension has the is defined as force per unit length along a direction perpendicular to the
force, or of energy per unit area. The two are equivalent—but when referring to energy per unit
of area, people use the term surface energy—which is a more general term in the sense that it
applies also to solids and not just liquids.
Mathematically surface tension is

(N/m)

Surface tension  varies from one liquid to another. For a given liquid,  decreases with increasing
temperature.

Effects of surface tension

Water
Several effects of surface tension can be seen with ordinary water:
A. Beading of rain water on a waxy surface, such as a leaf. Water adheres weakly to wax and
strongly to itself, so water clusters into drops. Surface tension gives them their near-spherical
shape, because a sphere has the smallest possible surface area to volume ratio.

Figure 4 beading on a leaf

B. Formation of drops occurs when a mass of liquid is stretched.

Figure 5. Water dripping from a tap

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C. Flotation of objects denser than water occurs when the object is nonwettable and its weight is
small enough to be borne by the forces arising from surface tension. For example, water striders
use surface tension to walk on the surface of a pond. The surface of the water behaves like an
elastic film: the insect's feet cause indentations in the water's surface, increasing its surface area.

C. Water striders stay atop the liquid because of surface tension

Floating objects

Figure 5. Floating object

When an object is placed on a liquid, its weight Fw depresses the surface, and is balanced by the
surface tension forces on either side Fs, which are each parallel to the water's surface at the points
where it contacts the object. Notice that the horizontal components of the two Fs arrows point in
opposite directions, so they cancel each other, but the vertical components point in the same
direction and therefore add up to balance Fw.

Contact angles
Where the two surfaces meet, they form a contact angle, , which is the angle the tangent to the
surface makes with the solid surface. The diagram to the right shows two examples. Tension
forces are as shown in the figure below. The liquid surface is called meniscus which may curve
downwards or upwards depending on which of the two forces (cohesive or adhesive frces)
dominates.
If cohesive force > adhesive force
Contact angle  > 90o (we have convex meniscus, i.e. meniscus curves upward) Figure 7a.
If cohesive force < adhesive force
Contact angle  < 90o (we have concave meniscus, i.e. meniscus curves upward). Figure 7b.

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 Meniscus
Meniscus




 > 90o  < 90o

(7a) (7b)

If a very thin test tube is inserted in a liquid reservoir, there is a different between the levels of
the liquid inside and outside the tube.

If  < 90o, liquid level rises higher inside the tube e.g. water in a glass tube.
If  > 90o, liquid level depresses inside the tube e.g. mercury-in-glass tube.

Two forces act on the tube inside the liquid:

1. Upward force F due to surface tension which acts around the circles of contact between
the meniscus and the glass tube.
2. The downward pull of gravity Fw (weight of the liquid column)

Consider the figure below

F F

h


At equilibrium

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Where is the volume of the liquid, r is the radius of the tube.
But , where L is the circumference of the circle of contact angle along which the surface
tension acts.
Therefore ,
And
Equation (1) then becomes

h varies inversely as the radius of the tube.

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